Return
by YourGenericNobody
Summary: [Warning: Spoilers for a Mystery Dungeon Game] Finding someone to know and love can be difficult. Xavier Spruce, champion of Hoenn, has found nobody who wants to love him for him, not his title; however, he finds that love can sprout from the unlikeliest of the unlikely. It all started with one dream. Rated T for my paranoia.


**My reaction to owning Pok****émon? HAHAHA-no.**

**A/N:**

**Hellooooooo again!**

**Gotta keep this brief; basically, this story will have some differences, and I'll explain some now, some later.**

**1\. This fic links Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and Omega Ruby/ Alpha Sapphire together.**

**2\. This fic also contains some eventual Human x Pokémon romance, but not to the point of lemons. Go back if you don't like it.**

**And as always, _read on_!**

The pitch-black sky set a mournful forecast onto the residents of Littleroot; it had been two months since the disappearance of Xavier Spruce, champion of Hoenn, and it would only be a matter of days until he had to be considered dead by the League, his title revoked and his pokémon released into the wild.

Xavier's mother, Monica, was devastated by the news told by her husband Norman, the gym leader of Petalburg, and both immediately lost hope in their beloved son's return. They told their neighbor and long-time friend, Professor Birch, and Xavier's first friend in Hoenn, May, already expecting the solemn reactions. Soon enough, the whole town had some knowledge of the missing teenager and feared the worst.

However, one pokémon still had a shred of hope left; Marécageuse, named Swampy by her teammates, was the very first of Xavier's pokémon, having been the mudkip who saved the professor who kept her (with the help of Xavier, of course). As she grew to be a swampert, the teen played with her, fed her, and even used himself as a training bag for her more than the rest of the members.

Nowadays, Swampy, along with the other team members, lived in Xavier's family home and in Birch's lab. Ever since that fateful day two months ago, the water-ground type would take evening strolls along Route 101 to relive memories of her trainer's first meeting with her.

She ambled on, lost in her thoughts, until the familiar rustling of grass resounded nearby. _Probably just a wild zigzagoon_, the swampert mused with a roll of her eyes, but she went ahead and took on a battle stance.

Nothing seemed to come out of the bushes.

Cocking her head sideways, Swampy relaxed her body just a little bit before slowly stepping closer to the shrubs. With a swipe of her blue arm, the crops were cast aside to reveal a white wool hat, a black headband with a red pokéball logo stitched to the bottom ends.

No signs of recognition could be seen in the pokémon's face until her eyes slowly widened to the point of a gasp escaping from her throat, knowing just who this belonged to.

She placed a hand on the cap before reeling said hand back to her face; this was Xavier's hat! It even had a somewhat stained back from the time she used a water gun on the back of the young man's head!

Glancing swiftly around her, Swampy caught a glimpse of a limb hanging from a tree… only to find that it wasn't the kind of limb attached to a tree.

She sprinted over to the location of the human leg to see a lean teenager's body, lightly tanned from the sunlight, and found some casual summer clothes worn by him. Swampy immediately recognized the still person.

She found Xavier!

Before the swampert could rejoice, however, she quickly noticed his bruises and cuts. She reached up the tree to snatch Xavier, put him on her back, and bolted out into the pathway (though not without grabbing the trainer's hat), completely aware of who to spread knowledge to first.

* * *

Monica looked up from her book with a somber countenance. "Alright," she began, "Go ahead, officer."

Putting his hat back on, the League official in front of her went to retrieve Xavier's ninetales and mightyena. He abruptly stopped after succeeding, questioning, "Where's the swampert?" in his rough voice.

The mother frowned in disapproval. "It's probably returning from strolling about Route 101. I would suggest you-"

A slam of a door opening interrupted her, unveiling the pokémon in question, something on its back and tears in its eyes; its lip quivered when it softly laid down the body to the ground.

Monica slowly realized who this person was, as did the man in black. Her eyes widened as she queried, "Where did you find this young man?"

The swampert pointed out the window facing the outskirts of town. Swampy croaked, "Out there," tearing up even more, this time in joy.

Shedding tears of her own now, Monica requested to get an ambulance on the way, in which the official complied. She turned to the unconscious Xavier. "Please be okay, my baby," she whispered.

* * *

Xavier felt like his mind was swimming; where was he? Was he back in his home world? Were his adventures and eventual saving of the world inhabited by only pokémon all just a dream?

His questions, for the most part, were answered by the distinct smell of medicine crawling into his nose and the sounds of English registering in his ears.

He let out a groan, provoking several statements along the line of, "He's waking up!" The young man slowly opened his eyes to find the typical ceiling of a hospital.

Looking around, Xavier found his mother sitting next to him, joyful in declaring, "My son! He's alive!"

The almost-former champion, however, had much more difficulty in speaking. "I'm sorry I worried you, Mom."

"Son, you got lucky your swampert found you just outside Littleroot," Norman, opposite Monica, chuckled. "Glad to have you back on the face of the planet."

Xavier's mother suddenly wailed to start a family hug, but the gym leader stopped her. "I think we should let our son rest, Monica."

"...Okay," the woman sniffed, wiping a tear off her eye. "I'll let him sleep some more."

The young man tried his best to smile warmly before falling back to sleep.

* * *

Marécageuse watched the whole display in silence; she desperately wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know how to do so, considering she can only speak in her native tongue. Sighing in defeat, the swampert stood up to walk out the room, only to be turned around by Xavier's mother.

"Thank you so much for finding him," Monica praised, a tear in her eye. "I don't know what I could've done if you haven't carried him home. Please watch over him while I'm gone."

Swampy didn't know how to respond to that, but when she saw the pleading look in the human's eyes, she couldn't refuse. "Of course."

While the mother didn't understand the language, she figured it out by the context. Monica nodded in acknowledgement, walking out of the room with her husband.

* * *

Xavier woke up once again to the stench of the disinfectant sprayed in the hospital. Head pounding much less than before, now just a mild ache, he fluttered his eyes open to the ceiling, then glancing left and right to find his parents gone, a doctor and his swampert in their place. He also found it much easier to voice out his inquiry. "Where did Mom and Dad go?"

"To their house," came the immediate reply of the doctor. "They told your swampert to watch over you while they were away, and I'd say she's done a good job…" the man shifting his glance briefly, "...until she fell asleep, of course," he chuckled hoarsely at the last part.

"Good to know," the champion sighed in relief. Hesitantly, he asked another question. "How long was I gone?"

The suited man didn't answer immediately either, as if pondering something. "Your father said that you suddenly disappeared for around two months; how so, none of us knew, but your pokémon miraculously found you near Route 101. The bruises she found on you were nothing to worry about, so you're free to go walk about."

Digesting the information and option given, Xavier slowly turned his still-sore body to the edge of the bed, giving the approval of the doctor with a thumbs-up. "Thank you, sir."

"Don't mention it."

Then the doctor stood up and left, leaving the two remaining people in silence. Xavier rotated his waist toward his companion. "Think you could help me up?" he asked with a strained smile.

Marécageuse nodded and put her rather cold blue hands on his forearms, causing the trainer to shiver. "Okay, you can stop, I'm up," he complained, already up on his feet.

The swampert smirked just a tiny bit. "Maybe you shouldn't have asked," she smugly responded.

Xavier jumped at the statement, confusing her just a little bit. "What's wrong?" she taunted. "Are you a scaredy-meowth?"

Then the trainer rapidly glared around, sometimes searching under a table. This started concerning the swampert. "Xavier?"

"Where are you?!" he screamed. "Where are you, devilish woman?!"

Marécageuse lightly tapped the young man, provoking him in snapping around. "Oh," he exclaimed. "It's just you, Mar. I'm probably just hearing things."

The swampert tilted her head, thoroughly bewildered by the sudden mood swing. "What things?"

Xavier's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, freezing his movements otherwise. After a long pause: "Can you… s-say something again?"

Swampy's confusion went through the roof. "Xavier?"

"Oh my _Arceus_, You talked!" he shrieked, taking several steps back. "Now this _has_ to be a dream! I'm clearly still suffering from my headache!"

Almost as if to prove his point, Xavier slammed his head against the nearest wall, still in denial. "Owww…" he whined, rubbing the spot he hammered with the wall. Shaking off the pain: "N-now speak."

"Please don't hurt your head like that," Mar begged, albeit with a look that questioned, "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"O-okay, this isn't a dream," the trainer gave in, seemingly downcast before a spark in his eyes prompted a smirk. "Maybe I could use this to my advantage!" he beamed.

* * *

"Mooom! I'm home!" Xavier announced while entering the front door, only to be glomped by his mother.

"I missed you so much!" she wailed as she hugged her son and bombarded him with questions such as, "Where were you?!" and "Are you feeling better, hun?"

"Mom! Mom! I'm fine!" the young man, overwhelmed, reassured. "In fact, I feel better than ever!"

Monica raised her eyebrow in amusement. "How so?"

He faltered for just a moment before cheering himself up. "It'd be better if I showed you. Charles!"

"Oh boy!" a mightyena exclaimed before running downstairs, almost tripping over his long black-and-gray fur. "Master Xavier's here! I missed you so much, Master!"

With hugs and licks ensuing, the champion showed some humility. "Master? Oh, no need to call me that! I missed you, too, Charles!"

Both of the listeners' eyes expanded. The dog-like pokémon recovered first. "You can understand me?" he queried with a growing grin. "Wow! I'll have even more fun with you, Ma-er… Xavier!"

"Boy, you catch on quick!" Xavier heartily laughed before turning his attention to his mother. "I can explain… kind of."

* * *

**Welp, Xavier can understand pok****éspeech. This (actually) will be explained eventually.**

**Let me know how this went in the reviews; criticism (of the constructive kind) is always appreciated!**


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